Missionaries of Charity (Aden)

Advocación mariana de Adén (Adén)
✔ Recognized by the Church

The Missionaries of Charity, founded by Saint Teresa of Calcutta, have been present in Yemen for decades, with homes in Aden and Hodeidah dedicated to serving the sick, the elderly, and people with disabilities, regardless of their religion. The most well-known event is the martyrdom of four Missionaries of Charity in Aden, killed on March 4, 2016, during an attack on their nursing home, along with twelve lay collaborators. They cared for some sixty or seventy people of various faiths.

Main data

Origin and history

The Missionaries of Charity, founded by Saint Teresa of Calcutta, have been present in Yemen for decades, with homes in Aden and Hodeidah dedicated to serving the sick, the elderly, and people with disabilities, regardless of their religion. The most well-known event is the martyrdom of four Missionaries of Charity in Aden, killed on March 4, 2016, during an attack on their nursing home, along with twelve lay collaborators. They cared for some sixty or seventy people of various faiths.

The image and the sanctuary

This is not a sanctuary, but rather a group of religious houses with a strong Marian devotion. The sisters kept images of the Virgin Mary in prominent places throughout the house, as a sign of maternal comfort for everyone, including the Muslim residents, who referred to Maryam with respect, as she is also venerated in the Quran. There is no record of a specific Marian patronage associated with these houses.

Patronage and coronation

The congregation's charism centers on Mary as Mother of the Poor and Mother of the Congregation, with personal and communal consecration to the Virgin. Patronage or coronation of a specific image in Aden: not recorded.

Celebration and devotion

Marian devotion is part of the congregation's approved charism, lived out daily rather than just at local festivals. Following the 2016 massacre, testimonies gathered by the Church indicate that the murdered sisters had asked the Virgin Mary for protection for their elderly and sick members and died trying to protect them, highlighting their Marian devotion to the very end. Their cause for beatification: a formal decree has not yet been issued.

Link with the Rosary

The daily recitation of the Holy Rosary is a central element of the charism of the Missionaries of Charity. In the houses of Aden and Hodeidah, the sisters prayed the Rosary with the elderly and sick, making this prayer a daily sign of consolation and trust in Mary's intercession in the midst of war.